THE "ARCH ADEPT" OF THE "FIRST DEGREE," THE HINDU'S “ASTRAL BELL": THE CURSE, THE DOOM OF MAJOR GENERAL J.B. HEATHERSTONE; “THE MYSTERY OF CLOOMBER." A WEIRD INCIDENT, BASED UPON KNOWN FACTS AND THE SECRET MYSTERIES OF BUDDHIST FAITH AND ADEPTSHIP OF THE HIGHEST GRADE.
Book Details + Condition: Scarce first edition of THE "ARCH ADEPT" OF THE "FIRST DEGREE," THE HINDU'S “ASTRAL BELL". (Please see above for complete title.) Under the Editorship of L.W. de Laurence. By A.C.D. (Arthur Conan Doyle). Chicago: de Laurence, Scott & Co., 1910. Octavo; 177 pages. Includes inserted plates with illustrations from photographs (it appears as though this pirated edition had these plates provided, loose), and line drawings in text. Original blue cloth boards, with gilt title on front and spine. The work is a pirated reprint of Doyle's (“A.C.D.” on the title page — very clever of de Laurence) THE MYSTERY OF CLOOMBER, first published in 1888. While Doyle considered this particular work “immature,” the subject owed much to the sensational literature of the time. In very good condition: tight binding; light shelfwear to boards; bumped and rubbed corners, spine ends; some chipping to edges of 2 of the inserted loose photograph plates; text is clean and unmarked save original Aries Press stamp on title page, and on front endpaper. Aries Press printed de Laurence's first editions.
